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A Social Disobedience Project

Jordan Teuscher is at it again – ignoring laws and benefiting from the inaction of Utah DOT, the Elections Office, and the Utah Attorney Generals office. Leading up to a very important Republican primary in June where he faces Scott Stephenson, the Teuscher campaign is rightfully worried that a conservative candidate running with extensive service in public safety could very well end his 3-term run.  Teuscher is famously anti-union, but he’s also against public education and voter rights. 

Ironically, Jordan Teuscher has illegally posted campaign signs on the overpasses at 11400 South, 10400 South, and 9800 South of Bangerter Highway (all within or near Utah House District 44). This is a violation of Utah State Code 72-7-503, which makes it a Class B Misdemeanor violation to post signs in the right-of-way for Utah highways.  The irony is that the Jordan Teuscher is well aware that he is violating state laws in doing this – not only did he pass his own HB33 Political Signs amendments during the 2026 general session, but he also complained when I ran against him in 2024 and posted aggressively.  Back then Teuscher leaned on the Utah Republican Party and the Utah Taxpayers Association to respond with his own signs and an aggressive mailer campaign that outspent me 3:1.  In 2026 he knows that Stephenson represents a real threat.  His signs are up before the Republican primary in hopes to curry favor with voters in our district – the main issue being that the other candidates have respected the law and NOT posted in violation of state law as Teuscher has. The problem is that no authorities are doing anything about it. Read on. 

The Project “Ask”

I’m asking unions, caucuses, in-boundary candidates, and the Democratic party to participate in the visibility project “Signs on Bangerter & 10600 Overpass – A social disobedience project” by dropping off yard signs.  If you have materials (blank corrugated vinyl, box cutters, zip ties) and want to donate those to the project – great!  

On Saturday, May 23rd at 10AM we plan to meet in the parking lot on the southwest corner of the 10600 South overpass of Bangerter Highway to organize. 

  • This is a drop-off event – we’ll be collecting yard signs with democratic messaging and plan to canvas the entire fence along the north and south sides of the overpass as a protest to the inaction of the Utah Department of Transportation to remove political signs posted by Republican candidate Jordan Teuscher. All of his signs were placed on May 2 in violation of Utah State code 72-7-503, but as in similar years, DOT acknowledges our complaints but takes no action to remove the signs. This only harms other candidates running fair campaigns, the voters of the district, and constituents who suffer under ill-representation of this legislator. 
  • We are not allowed to remove signs. HOWEVER, we can post signs just as the Teuscher has done, and protest through social disobedience. The goal is to cover the fence with signs, giving space not to cover any posted sign but to create a situation that DOT will respond to. 
  • Please bring corrugated plastic (yard) signs that have relevant messages, that are political but NOT derogatory. This is a drop-off event – SIGNS WILL BE POSTED BY SELECT PERSONS TO AVOID TRAFFIC ISSUES. 
  • We want the signs to stay up as long as possible to communicate a message and raise awareness that candidates and office holders should not be allowed to circumvent laws simply because it is controversial for a department to enforce its public duties.

Building The Case of Inaction

To this date, no action has been taken by any authority listed below.  None of these groups have been willing to enforce a Utah law or to hold Jordan Teuscher accountable for knowingly violating a Utah law.  Jordan has been cc’d on all of my correspondence with these groups. He is well aware of the requests and has not taken any action, or responded.  

  1. The Utah Elections Office has been contacted. Their response was “The Lieutenant Governor has no enforcement authority over where signs are placed.” The office chose NOT to contact UDOT to request enforcement of existing Utah laws governing political signs that are illegally posted.  
  2. Utah Dept of Transportation has been contacted with multiple requests, which have all been acknowledged with no action taken. I have begun cc:ing contactudot@utah.gov on all email correspondence. They do not respond.
  3. South Jordan Police received and accepted a supplemental report “UDOT SeeClickFix tickets #21671239, #21619660”, submission reference 260383 on May 14. The report requested that the police department contact Jordan Teuscher to request removal of the signs, and pending no action to charge him with a misdemeanor crime in violation of Utah State Code 72-7-503. There has been no update to the report. 
  4. The Utah State Attorney Generals Office was contacted on May 16, 2026 (CRM:0100332) requesting that they pursue the issue with Jordan Teuscher.  A separate request (CRM:0100331) was submitted to push Utah DOT to enforce its right-of-way rule and to remove Jordan Teuscher’s signs. I have not YET received a response form the AG office. 

Are we breaking the rules when we are the only ones abiding by them?  

  • Teuscher introduced HB33 Political Signs Amendments to modify Utah State code 20A-11 and 20A-17 in 2026 general session this year.  As a state legislator, and one who has recently written legislation on election signage, he is well aware of the state laws governing where and how signs can be posted. 
  • Teuscher sits on the House Ethics Committee.  As a member of the Ethics Committee, there is additional consideration to uphold the principles of law and decorum represented by an elected official.  Teuscher is willfully choosing to ignore that. 
  • There seems to be an overt display of unlawfully claiming space by his campaign. 

This is why a social disobedience project is necessary. 

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Cullimore’s SRJ7 is Virtue Signaling and Dangerously Deceptive

Kirk Cullimore has introduced SJR7 Joint Resolution Urging Congress to Propose an Amendment to the United States Constitution which has a lot of WHEREAS statements but an very interesting summary that’s worth diving into.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah hereby calls upon the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution that clarifies that the states may reasonably regulate and limit the spending of money in their jurisdictions to influence campaigns, elections, or ballot measures, and that, in doing so, the states may also distinguish between natural persons and artificial entities such as corporations, unions, and artificial intelligences.

Sen. Cullimore’s resolution isn’t about better campaign financing. It’s about removing federal limits and allowing states to control that funding. Utah currently has no contribution limit for state senate and representative seats. Utah would undoubtedly remove contribution limits for federal as well.

What’s interesting about the resolution is that he does specifically call out unions. If you aren’t aware, Cullimore is the Senate House Sponsor of HB267 Public Sector Labor Union Amendments that would dismantle workers rights to organize. Of particular interest in committee and floor discussion are queries on union dues that go to campaigns (there are none, and there are no reported violations). Cullimore is adding language here to specifically target unions.

At a state level, Sen. Cullimore has done nothing to control campaign financing and unlawful political activity.

  • Reform current state legislative disclosure processes to include audits and tracking of online payment processing apps like Venmo that operate like banks;
  • Reform current state legislative disclosure processes to penalize egregious reporting errors, like Sen. Stuart Adams’ campaign disclosures that used his credit card name for expenses rather than the actual recipient
  • Address crypto currency as a source of unregulated campaign funds that need controls for reporting and audits
  • Reinforce the separation of church and state, where the Republican super majority are also members of the predominant faith here in Utah
  • Prevent the church (i.e. an outside influence) from financing political activity here or elsewhere

At a federal level, if Senator Cullimore were serious about reforming campaign finance, he would have included

  • Support to turn over Citizens United
  • Make it illegal for Legislators to conduct Insider Trading
  • Prohibit foreign interference through blockchain, crypto currency and AI
  • Set Transparency and Reporting for crypto currency

But he says none of these things.

Updates

Feb 18, 2025: Letter published in Salt Lake Tribune
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2025/02/18/letter-sen-cullimores-campaign/

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Stay Diligent, Stay Active, Vote, Vote, Vote

Sirsy “Revolution” – lyrics here

2026 is going to be another politically charged election year, the foundation of which is being laid now. Amendment D was made void by the Utah Supreme Court yesterday, but expectations are that we’ll see it resurface in 2026. Another impactful decision made this week is for a district court hearing date of April 2026 to decide the suit on Utah’s abortion ban. This means that the injunction that allows abortion up to 18 weeks will remain in place through April 2026 when the case is heard. The other big issue that will carry over to the next election is the August decision by the Utah Supreme Court to allow a lower district court to rule on Redistricting, which is expected to pass.

Here’s What to Expect

Supermajority leadership is probably freaking out right now. You can expect four things to come from them in the next two years:

  1. Amendment D is not going away. At the soonest opportunity, it will come back as a ballot initiative in 2026 if the current leaders can make it happen. Republican leadership wants to change the Utah constitution to limit the will of the people, and effectively neuter Citizen Initiatives by allowing the legislature to override successful ballot measures.
  2. As a result of recent court decisions, the legislature will also look at ways it can reduce or limit judicial authority. They aren’t happy that their over-reach was checked. Their contempt is obvious in recent letters that unfairly admonish the courts, who reminded the legislature that they are accountable for government over-reach.
  3. The 2025 general session is expected to be filled with bills that introduce additional bans on abortion. These bills will attempt to affect the injunction in some way
  4. Once the redistricting suit is settled (expect that the lower courts will judge in favor of redistricting, and that will be appealed to the Utah Supreme Court), the legislature will do everything in its capacity to delay the redistricting process. A new independent redistricting commission will have to be set up and funded. New maps will be proposed, and the supermajority will drag its feet to make sure that the redistricting doesn’t happen before the 2026 election cycle. It’s very likely that we’ll have to submit another lawsuit against the Utah legislature to implement the court decision in time for new boundaries to be published for 2026 elections.

The supermajority in our Utah legislature believes that it isn’t beholden to anyone, and they have plans to keep scrapping with everyone, picking fights with the Feds, picking fights with Utah courts, and picking fights with Utah voters. Their goal is autocratic power for their vindictive, thin-skinned, power-hungry coalition of legislators. But we can stop them.

Vote Them Out

We are at the end of the 2024 election cycle, but the most important act you can do as a citizen is still pending – to vote up and down the ballot. Be informed, know the candidates, and vote for all of the races on your ballot, and be willing to vote out the bad actors who are actively working against the interests of We, the People.

  • Teuscher is an acolyte of the legislative supermajority, and needs to be voted out. He is a primary sponsor of copy/paste legislation that works against the freedoms of Utah voters, and he was the floor sponsor of the bill for Amendment D that would have stripped our voter rights. We need to unseat people like him and fill those seats with candidates who will defend our rights and keep us free of the kind of government interference that we are seeing from them.
  • Talk to your neighbors about important votes that will appear on the ballot, and make sure they know what’s at stake in this election. If you need talking points, you can refer to https://utah44.com/decision-time/
  • If you have time, volunteer with a campaign at https://mobilize.us/utahdemocrats, or contact Utah State Democrats or Salt Lake County Democrats to find ways that you can help.

Stay Engaged

We are winning battles, but the fight isn’t over.

None of this is easy, but it matters greatly to be involved and to be part of positive change. If we don’t fight to defend our rights, and if we don’t actively engage, then we give ground.

I started this article with a video of one of my favorite bands Sirsy playing “Revolution”.
Make it take an army to back you down / ‘Cause life’s marching on it’s not waiting ‘round/ So get up, get off it, and break some ground / Make your own revolution

Don’t lose the focus. When we fight, we win.

Let me say it again. When we fight. we win.

Now let’s go fight.